Good will helps Cowboys secure LT Tyron Smith for decade, and deal doesn't cripple their cap

1/11

Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith has signed an eight-year contract extension that will pay him $109 million over the next 10 seasons and make him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL. Here are 10 things you might not know about the Dallas All-Pro performer.

OXNARD, Calif. — The Cowboys found a way Wednesday to secure the centerpiece of their offensive line for the next decade and not cripple their salary cap this year.

The Cowboys signed Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith to an eight-year contract extension that will potentially keep the 23-year-old with the club through 2023. Smith was already under contract the next two seasons. His new 10-year deal will pay him $109.7 million.

Smith will receive $97.6 million in new money over the eight-year extension. The $12.2 million average will make him the NFL’s highest-paid left tackle.

When the Cowboys put the offer in front of Smith late last week, he said he almost immediately was ready to sign it despite being told repeatedly he could get more money.

“This organization is my family,” Smith said, “and I want to be here for the rest of my career. I never thought I’d be at this place right now. I’m just blessed it happened the way it did.”

Smith’s new contract includes $40 million guaranteed and a $10 million signing bonus. Smith will receive a little more than $32 million guaranteed over the first three years of his new contract, a source said.

The Cowboys didn’t break the bank to sign Smith despite the nearly $110 million total value. Smith’s salary cap hit this year ($5 million) increased by only $1 million. Smith’s base salary this year is slightly more than $1 million. The Cowboys still have a little less than $10 million in salary cap space to sign receiver Dez Bryant to a long-term deal.

Because of Smith’s age and skill set, many thought he could have pulled in even more money. Smith’s signing for 10 years prevents him from double-dipping on the free-agent market. He could have signed a short-term extension and pursued more money as a free agent in four or five years when contracts for other left tackles will have likely increased.

How will Smith feel in six years after NFL inflation?

“I’m still going to be comfortable,” he said.

Smith will be 33 to start the final year of his contract. Former Cowboys left tackle Flozell Adams was 33 in the first year of a six-year, $42 million extension he signed in 2008.

“This might be the first 10-year deal I’ve ever done in football where I really think the guy will be playing in the last year of his contract,” Stephen Jones said.

Smith was satisfied with signing a long-term deal now because he wanted to be a Cowboys player for life and also valued how much the club helped him through his ugly family situation two years ago.

Smith’s lawyer in 2012 accused his parents of taking money from him after he had already agreed to pay them in installments with money from his rookie deal. He was also threatened and harassed.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came to Smith’s aid immediately, lining up security detail for Smith at his home and at work.

“For them to look out for me, I’m just looking out for them getting this deal done,” Smith said.

To this day, Smith still hasn’t spoken to his parents. Even though his mother, Frankie Pinkney, and step-father, Roy, live a few hours away in Riverside, Calif., from where the team is training, Smith doesn’t see his family while in his home state.

The family protective order Smith filed in the summer of 2012 to keep his family from having any contact with him is still in place.

“It’s going to be in place until I feel comfortable that it doesn’t need to be there,” Smith said last year.

Smith said he is relieved to get the contract negotiations behind him but was never worried about a deal getting done. In fact, Smith has been more concerned over the last few weeks about one of his dogs that had surgery.

Smith is soft-spoken and not a flashy NFL player. He drives a Jeep that is provided for him by Meador Dodge Chrysler Jeep.

When the Cowboys drafted Smith ninth overall in 2011, they began the rebuilding process with their offensive line. Three years later, it’s now among the league’s best units.

That’s important with quarterback Tony Romo coming off of two back surgeries.

“I’m so happy for him,” Romo said. “He deserves everything he got. I don’t know that he is overpaid either. He is that good.”

Added Jerry Jones: “He’s more than we could have expected, and we expected a lot. He’s been outstanding, an example of how to do it.”

Smith’s agents, Joe Panos and Eric Metz, and his financial adviser are scheduled to be in Oxnard on Thursday. Not surprisingly, no big celebration is planned. That’s not Smith’s style. The all-business Smith says he has work to do.

And he knows expectations just climbed for him with the new deal in place.

“Tyron deserved to be the highest-paid left tackle,” Stephen Jones said. “He wants to be one of the best left tackles to ever play and wants to win rings. That’s more important to him than money.”

Big-money position

The Cowboys made Tyron Smith the highest-paid left tackle in the NFL. Smith’s eight-year extension will average $12.2 million per season. The six left tackles who have contracts that will average at least $10 million per season:

Player

Team

Age

Avg. salary

Tyron Smith

Cowboys

23

$12.2 million*

Joe Thomas

Cleveland

29

$11.5 million

Ryan Clady

Denver

27

$10.5 million

Jason Peters

Philadelphia

32

$10.325 million

D’Brickashaw Ferguson

NY Jets

30

$10 million

Trent Williams

Washington

26

$10 million

*Based on Smith’s eight-year extension that includes $97.6 million in new money

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